The present invention relates generally to voice messaging, and more particularly, to an interactive voicemail system and methodology that enables a caller to leave an interactive voicemail for a called party on the called party's voice mailbox.
Voice messaging systems for sending and receiving messages between users that are subscribers of the system are well known in the art. A “subscriber” is a person that has actively subscribed to the voice messaging system by creating either (1) a voice mailbox and/or (2) a billing relationship with the provider where the Subscriber agrees to pay money, either directly or indirectly through the purchase of other services, for use of the voice messaging system.
A voice mailbox is a storage area within the voice messaging system that is addressable by a number. The number selected to address the voice mailbox may be any number, such a number coinciding with the subscriber's telephone number. The voice mailboxes of typical prior art voice messaging systems require that the subscriber both (1) periodically call into the system to determine if there are any messages in the mailbox, and (2) call into the system to listen to messages. Most people, however, already have separate voicemail systems or answering machines that answer the telephone and record messages from live callers. As such, these prior art voice messaging systems create yet another mailbox that both senders and/or receivers must check in addition to their existing answering machine or separate voicemail system.
Examples of a subscriber billing relationship include, but are not limited to, a monthly subscription fee, the purchase of related or unrelated services such as local telephone calling or long distance calling, or the outright purchase of a voice messaging system (hardware or software) through either an installment sale or single payment. It is through these and other types of billing relationships, or by creating a mailbox as described above, that people actively subscribe to become subscribers to prior art messaging systems.
After actively subscribing to the voice messaging service and/or creating a separate mailbox, a subscriber can send and receive messages with other subscribers by calling into the system, logging into the particular mailbox and then creating and sending messages to mailboxes of other subscribers within the same voice messaging system.
In an exemplary application, a subscriber who has previously subscribed to the voice messaging service, places a telephone call into the voice messaging system. The subscriber then signs into his or her voice mailbox, records a message for an intended recipient, and enters a telephone number of the intended recipient. The voice messaging service then determines whether the recipient is a subscriber to the voice messaging service. If the recipient is a subscriber, then the voice messaging system deposits the voice message in the recipient's voice mailbox. The recipient can then access the voice message by calling into the voice messaging system in a conventional manner. If the recipient is not a subscriber, the voice messaging service may call the recipient and simply play the recorded message.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,785,363 discloses a voice messaging system that enables non-subscribers of a voice messaging service to send, receive and reply to voicemails. In this regard, a system and methodology are provided for a sender to deliver voice messages to a receiver, where neither the sender nor receiver are subscribers to a voicemail service associated with the system. Voice messages can be delivered to non-subscribers and, if they are not home or reachable on a mobile phone, recorded into an existing answering machine or voicemail system of the recipient.
Telemarketers have been facing increasing challenges in reaching prospective customers. Consumers frustrated by such calls have resorted to caller ID and answer machine screening. Furthermore, “do-not-call” lists have become mandated and will continue to reduce a telemarketer's customer base. Since many telecommunications companies rely upon revenue from telemarketers, there exists a need for a system and methodology by which telemarketers can reach their intended customers. The present invention addresses this need by providing a system and methodology that enables telemarketers to reach prospective customers through a voice messaging system, and in particular, where the customers can choose to interact with the voicemail in response to interactive prompting.